All six Democratic gubernatorial candidates support expansion of the state’s medical marijuana law.

John Norris, a long-time aide to former Governor Tom Vilsack, said Republican Governor Reynolds should respond to critics who contend cannabis products intended for medical use will be exploited as recreational drugs.

“The governor’s not leading when she needs to,” Norris said last night on IPTV. “People are suffering in this state. She’s spending all her political capital on tax cuts for millionaires. As governor, I would spend some political capital on educating Iowans about how this helps people. Let’s get over this paranoia…and get this fixed for people who need it.”

All six candidates were asked about the issue during a 90-minute “Iowa Press” forum sponsored by Iowa Public Television.

Ross Wilburn of Ames, the former mayor of Iowa City, said it’s an “over-reaction” to suggest there is a “direct line” between medical cannabis and recreational marijuana.

“There are people who are hurting now,” Wilburn said. “My mother died of cancer in 1985 when I was 20. She could have certainly benefited from medical marijuana.”

And Wilburn said his late father, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, could have used medical marijuana as pain medication in the last two weeks of his life.

Cathy Glasson, a nurse from Coralville, said medical cannabis has been very effective in treating lots of very serious ailments.

“Medical cannabis is actually used to treat opioid addition,” Glasson said. “So evidence is showing that it’s actually beneficial in keeping (prescription opioids) from being a gateway drug.”

Andy McGuire, a medical doctor, said it should be doctors, not politicians, who decide which conditions can be effectively treated with cannabis.

“Doctors, looking at scientific medical literature, ought to be making those decisions,” McGuire said. “This is the problem. You don’t want to have the legislature, you don’t want to have the governor involved in this. You want to have it done by physicians, with their patients.”

Fred Hubbell, a Des Moines businessman, supports that approach, too, and called for making changes in the law.

“If we’re really committed to quality, affordable health care for all Iowans…the science is clear that there are a lot more medical illnesses and issues that medical marijuana can be actually be very beneficial for, much broader than what we allow in our state,” Hubbell said. “Other states have gone a lot broader than we have.”

Hubbell mentioned letting cannabis oils, pills and creams with a higher concentration of the drug THC be sold in the state.

Nate Boulton, a state senator from Des Moines, said the medical marijuana law must be expanded or the businesses that just won state licenses to sell cannabis products here won’t be profitable.

“We’re not going to get more providers coming into our state to invest in a medical cannabis solution if we don’t have more accessibility,” Boulton said. “We’re not going to get people who are going to come here, only to be able to offer to a small number of Iowans.”

Current state law has set up a system for allowing cannabis products to be used as treatment for a limited number of conditions. Five Iowa dispensing sites have been chosen for Iowa-produced cannabis oils, pills and creams, starting this December.

The six Democrats running for governor engaged in a sometimes feisty debate during a statewide broadcast tonight.

The candidates met in Iowa Public Television studios for 90-minutes of live conversation. With little public pollling on the race, Des Moines businessman Fred Hubbell — the only candidate running advertisements statewide — was targeted by three of his rivals.

State Senator Nate Boulton of Des Moines questioned Hubbell’s support of “corporate giveaways: when Hubbell was Democratic Governor Chet Culver’s Department of Economic Development director.

“We need a nominee that hasn’t had a hand in the cookie jar on all this…I think we have to have somebody that has not shown that they’re willing to engage in this coupon economic system that is failing our state right now,” Boulton said.

Hubbell responded: “I don’t know what he’s talking about. I mean, he didn’t name any particular project or location, but when I went into economic development, we had a film tax credit scandal that was costing Iowans tens of millions of dollars. We fixed that. We saved our state millions of dollars and we stopped giving away any state money to any project that did not have a prevailing wage requirement.”

Early in the debate, Hubbell listed ideas for setting new limits on hundreds of millions of dollars worth of state tax credits to businesses, but Hubbell did not join his competitors in calling for immediate repeal of the GOP tax cut bill that passed the legislature in April. Later in the debate, Hubbell returned to the subject.

“We can all talk about reversing this tax cut that they came up, but there are some good things in there and we should address the existing problems before we take a look at dealing with that tax cut,” Hubbell said.

John Norris, the chief of staff to former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack, replied: “I disagree with Fred. We’ve got to throw that tax cut away and start over.”

Norris said there’s no way to sustain a $2 billion tax cut and it’s time to “help poor families in Iowa get ahead” rather than keep a GOP tax plan geared “to help millionaires.”

All the Democratic gubernatorial candidates oppose Iowa’s new law which bans virtually all abortions in the state, but Cathy Glasson, a nurse and union organizer from Coralville, challenged Hubbell’s commitment to the issue.

“If you’re up here talking about women’s reproductive health and safe, legal abortions, you’d better be walking the walk and not talking the talk,” Glasson said.

Moderator David Yepsen interjected: “Who are you talking about?”

Glasson replied: “I’m challenging Mr. Hubbell who has contributed to campaigns at the state legislature that actually voted for the fetal heartbeat bill.”

Hubbell responded. “She’s talking about Peter Cownie, who’s a state legislator. Charlotte and I have known the Cownies for over 30 years, ever since Peter Cownie was a young boy, so when we had an opportunity to support Peter, of course we did. Did I like his vote? No. Did I like the vote of anybody else who voted for it? No. If I had been governor, would I have vetoed it? Yes.

“…By the way, if we’re going to win this election and we’re get anything accomplished when one of us is governor, we’re going to have to reach out to the Trump voters and all of the voters across this state because we’re going to need them to win this election and we’re going to need them to govern.”

The June 5 Democratic Primary is just 20 days away, to be conducted with a new voter verification law approved by Republicans. All the Democratic candidates held up their hands at the end of the debate to indicate they’d repeal the law.

“It’s addressing a problem that doesn’t exist,” said Andy McGuire, a medical doctor who has served a chairwoman of the Iowa Democratic Party. “There wasn’t fraud to begin with. This was just to limit voting and we should make voting for everyone possible.”

Ross Wilburn of Ames, an African American who served three terms as mayor in Iowa City, likened the new requirements to racial segregation efforts in the south.

Hours before Fred Hubbell joins the other five Democrats running for governor tonight in a televised debate, Hubbell’s campaign has released a short video that reviews a traumatic event from Hubbell’s past.

In 1981, Hubbell and his wife, Charlotte, were taken hostage in an airplane that was diverted to Afghanistan, then Syria by three armed hijackers. Another passenger just a few feet from Hubbell was shot and tossed from the plane.

Hubbell talked about the experience with Radio Iowa. “My kids call me steady,” Hubbell said. “I’ve just learned that good things never last forever and bad things, if you’re thoughtful about it and think about it properly, you can get through it.”

Charlotte Hubbell was released after six days. Fred Hubbell, who was 30 years old at the time, spent a total of 13 days as a hostage before he and the remaining passengers were released.

“You inevitably spend time thinking about what you have been doing and what you could have done and what you’d do if you get off the plane, because you don’t know if you’re going to get off. You’re assuming you probably won’t,” Hubbell said. “…I kind of made the decision: ‘Look, if I get a second chance, I need to do more. I need to use it — more than I used the first chance.'”

The Hubbell campaign video includes news clips about the hostage crisis and features Hubbell himself speaking about those events in 1981. Hubbell told Radio Iowa his campaign produced the 94-second video because he’s been asked about the experience as he’s campaigned around the state.

“Charlotte and I have, from the very day it happened, not wanted to make a big deal out it and not wanted to seek publicity about it. People wanted us to write a book about it many different times and we chose not to do that. I mean, that’s not kind of how we run our lives,” Hubbell said. “But, you know, I’m in a different situation now. I have to talk about my experience and my background and people want to know.”

Sitting for days on that plane helped Hubbell come to this conclusion: “If I can survive something like this, I can survive a lot of things.”

Pakistan agreed to free 55 political prisoners after the hijackers threatened to execute Fred Hubbell and two other Americans on board, bringing the 13-day hostage situation to a peaceful end.

Once Hubbell and his wife returned to the United States, friends and relatives gave the couple stacks of newspaper clippings about the hostage crisis. The Hubbells stuffed the articles in paper grocery bags. Today, those bags sit in the basement of the Hubbell’s Des Moines home. Hubbell said he’s never read any of it and doesn’t intend to.

The Planned Parenthood Federation of America and the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa have filed a lawsuit challenging a new state law they say is a “virtual ban” on all abortions in the state.

The law approved by Republican legislators and signed by Republican Governor Kim Reynolds would ban abortions after a fetal heartbeat can be detected.

“The law would ban abortions as soon as any cardiac activity is detected in an embryo and that typically happens at around six weeks in pregnancy. This is before many women even know that they’re pregnant,” Rita Bettis, legal director for the ACLU of Iowa, said during an early afternoon news conference in Des Moines. “Quite plainly, with this new law, Iowa politicians have tried to ban virtually all abortions in the state of Iowa.”

Planned Parenthood of the Heartland president and CEO Suzanna de Baca said Iowa women will be forced to go out-of-state to get an abortion.

“Or, even worse, we foresee that there would be patients would try to self-induce, often using dangerous or illegal means,” de Baca said, “and that is our biggest concern, the safety of our patients.”

The groups first are seeking a court order to prevent the law from taking effect on July 1. The lawsuit’s ultimate aim is to get Iowa’s Supreme Court to rule the law unconstitutional.

Emma Goldman Clinic co-director Francine Thompson.

“We think it’s extreme and outrageous,” said Francine Thompson, co-director of the Emma Goldman Clinic in Iowa City, the first outpatient abortion clinic in the state.

Thompson told reporters the new law would be an “almost-complete ban” on abortions, as about two percent of the abortions at her clinic are preformed at or before the sixth week of a pregnancy.

“It’s a law that has been passed by politicians who are out of touch with the reality of women’s lives,” Thompson said.

The law would allow abortions after the sixth week of pregnancy in cases of rape if a women reports the crime within 45 days and in case of incest of the crime is reported within 140 days. Thompson said survivors of rape and incest risk getting kicked out of their home or being victimized again if they report the crime.

“We want politicians out of women’s lives and out of the exam room,” Thompson said. “This law must be struck down.”

The lawsuit has been filed on behalf of a doctor and patients at the Emma Goldman and Planned Parenthood clinics in Iowa.

Governor Reynolds has announced a Chicago law firm called the Thomas More Society will provide the legal defense for the state’s new abortion restriction, so there will be “no cost to taxpayers.”

The legal challenge is starting in Polk County District Court. Whichever way the distic court rules, Bettis acknowledged the lawsuit will be challenged to the Iowa Supreme Court.

“The Iowa Supreme Court has long been a stalwart protector of individual rights, recognizing those rights under our Iowa constitution,” Bettis said, “…so in this case, we thought it was appropriate to bring this case in front of the Iowa court.”

The lawsuit’s claims are focused on the Iowa Constitution. That’s a tactical move to try to avoid having this case heard in federal courts, where it might wind up as a test case to overturn Roe v Wade.

“Iowa will not go back in time by taking away this right,” de Baca said. “Planned Parenthood is challenging this law because the Iowa Constitution is clear. A woman has the right to access a safe and legal abortion.”

Reynolds, who signed the new abortion law on May 4, said at the time she would not “back down” from a legal challenge.

“I believe that all innocent life is precious and sacred and, as governor, I have pledged to do everything in my power to protect it,” Reynolds said during the bill-signing ceremony in her statehouse office. “And that’s what I am doing.”

A new state law gives county assessors authority to shift some of their official activity into the digital age.

The legislation will allow property assessments and notices from a county assessor’s office to be sent via e-mail or text message, “provided that the recipient authorizes that the notices be sent from the assessor’s office via electronic communications,” Representative Greg Heartsill of Columbia said during House debate of the measure.

County assessors have been sending paper notices via the mail of property tax assessments for homes, apartments and farms as well as commercial and industrial property. Assessors may continue to do use the U.S. Postal Service, but now have the option of shifting to deliver those documents electronically — if the property owner prefers that method.

“This is a really good, thought-out bill,” Representative Amy Nielsen of North Liberty said during House debate. “It will save our counties some money.”

County assessors determine the value of property every two years. County assessors do not collect property taxes, however. County treasurers do.

According to the American Bankers Association, 40 percent of Americans manage their bank accounts electronically.

A coalition of state and national groups are calling for a ban on so-called “factory farming” in the United States. Adam Mason of Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement said large-scale livestock confinements have “decimated” family farms.

“Thinking back to the late ’70s, there were over 80,000 family farm operations raising livestock across this state. Today, we have 10,000 factory farms,” Mason said. “That ain’t right.”

Mason spoke at a midday news conference in Des Moines, as did Bill Stowe, CEO and general manager of the Des Moines Water Works, which is among the 100 largest water utilities in the country.

“At Des Moines Water Works, our mission is to provide safe, affordable, abundant drinking water for half a million Iowans,” Stowe said. “It’s a job that becomes increasingly difficult, unfortunately, because Iowa’s surface waters are filthy.”

The Raccoon River has pollution levels today that exceed federal standards, requiring additional and expensive treatment before it can be used as drinking water. Stowe said there’s “no question” what he calls “industrial farming” upstream is contributing to the pollution.

“With bacteria, with soils, with chemicals and a growing concern for us is blue green algae and cyanotoxins,” Stowe said.

Stowe and the others who spoke at the news conference would like city and county officials to have the authority to regulate farming operations. Stowe said corporate interests have ruined states like West Virginia and Iowa should take a different path.

“We are not going to find ourselves left in a bone pile, a remanent of a failed industrial system like coal mining, because industrial farming and dirty agriculture is heading us on that same path,” Stowe said.

A national group called “Food and Water Watch” has released a report critical of the impact “massive amounts of manure” from livestock operations are having on the environment.

A spokesman for the Iowa Pork Producers Association said any moratorium on the pork industry “would greatly stifle rural Iowa economic activity” and limit entry into farming for the next generation. The association’s spokesman says modern Iowa pig barns “are designed to contain all manure” and “protect water quality.” He also noted there already are more than 200 pages of state regulations for the pork industry.

Governor Kim Reynolds will be in Dubuque this afternoon to sign legislation that seeks to address opioid addiction and reduce the number of overdose deaths in the state. Reynolds mentioned the bill in a video statement posted on Facebook.

“This 2018 legilsative session is one of accomplishments,” Reynolds said. “…We worked to save lives by passing a new law that addresses the opioid epidemic.”

Malissa Spranger, with the Mercy Turning Point Treatment Center in Dubuque, is among those who testified last October during a two-day statehouse hearing. She told legislators some patients wait for months to get into a drug treatment program.

“It’s literally like telling somebody that’s having a heart attack to come back in six weeks when your bed’s available,” Spranger said. “What we’re seeing is patients returning to their communities and, unfortunately, ending up deceased.”

Governor Reynolds will be at Mercy Medical Center in Dubuque at 3 p.m. today to sign the opioid bill into law.

Iowa will join 26 other states in forcing physicians to register prescriptions with the state’s drug monitoring program — to curb “doctor shopping” for multiple opioid prescriptions. Paper prescriptions will become a thing of the past in Iowa, too, by 2020. Pharmacists say prescriptions that are submitted electronically ensure there’s no tampering to increase the dosage or the number of pills prescribed.

The new law also contains a so-called “Good Samaritan” provision. It means those who call 911 to report someone has overdosed can’t be arrested for using drugs at the scene of the overdose.

The six Democrats who are running for governor met in their first televised debate tonight and criticized the way Republican Governor Kim Reynolds is managing state government and the policies she has pursued.

All six Democrats oppose the law Reynolds signed that bans abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected, around the sixth week of pregnancy.

“The signal that the governor and this legislature is sending about Iowa right now, that we’re willing to take away that personal decision away from women is just wrong,” said John Norris, a former state and federal utility regulator who also served as chief of staff to Democratic Governor Tom Vilsack.

Fred Hubbell, a retired Des Moines businessman, promised the issue would be a top priority if he’s elected.

“Make sure that everybody gets quality, affordable health care and that includes restoring the funding to Planned Parenthood and coming back with laws that respect a woman’s right to choose,” Hubbell said.

Nate Boulton, a state senator, stressed his vote against “defunding” Planned Parenthood, the 2017 state law that bans abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy and this year’s fetal heartbeat legislation.

“It was about attacking Iowans for their political stances, attacking Roe v Wade,” Boulton said.

Cathy Glasson, a nurse and union organizer from Coralville, predicted the law will be tied up in court and that it will be a “total waste of tax dollars.”

“The attack on women and our bodies absolutely has to stop in this state,” Glasson said.

Andy McGuire, a medical doctor who served as the Iowa Democratic Party’s chairwoman during the 2016 election cycle, warned of other consequences.

“I can tell you this won’t stop abortion,” said McGuire. “It will just make it unsafe.”

Reynolds told a group of supporters on Saturday night that the political fight on this new law is worth having.

Tonight, the Democratic candidates for governor also criticized Reynolds for signing a law that will withhold state support from cities and counties where local law enforcement fails to assist federal immigration agents. Hubbell suggested the law is “a charade.”

“All they’re trying to do…is divert attention from the very poor fiscal management that they’re doing for our state and try to divide people,” Hubbell said.

“The growth we’re having in rural population,” Norris said. “Our need for workforce is going to be met, partially, by new immigrants.”

Ross Wilburn, a former Iowa City mayor, linked Reynolds’ stand on immigration with President Trump.

“President 45 has tapped into fear and hate,” Wilburn said, “and pointed and said: ‘Those people are criminals. They’re responsible for your troubles.'”

During the 90-minute forum, the Democrats began by addressing the mental health system reforms Reynolds signed into law. Glasson called the changes symbolic.

“Merely lip service and window dressing,” Glasson said.

Each vowed to get rid of the private companies managing the Medicaid program. The Democrats also faulted Reynolds for the way she handled allegations the Iowa Finance Authority’s director was sexually harassing female staff.

“This was a moment for Kim Reynolds to step up and show leadership and she wilted,” Norris said.

The forum was hosted by The Quad City Times and broadcast by KWQC TV. The moderator announced at the start that the candidates had agreed “not to directly address” one another. The candidates will meet on Wednesday evening for a 90 minute “Iowa Press” debate on Iowa Public Television.

Senator Joni Ernst has indirectly responded to a White House staffer’s dismissive comment about Arizona Senator John McCain, who is battling brain cancer.

A White House communications assistant reportedly said McCain’s opposition to President Trump’s nominee to lead the CIA was “irrelevant” because “he’s dying anyway.”

In a tweet sent this morning, Senator Joni Ernst said the “nation should be grateful” for McCain’s “exemplary service and sacrifice.” Ernst said McCain, who was a prisoner of war in Vietnam for five and a half years, is a war hero. Ernst, in her tweet, said McCain and his family should be treated “with the civility and respect they deserve.”

Senator Chuck Grassley today said he trusts EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt to follow through on the president’s promise that a higher blend of ethanol may be sold year round, but Grassley said he’s worried Pruitt may take other actions to undermine what was discussed earlier this week during a White House meeting about ethanol.

“In other words, I’m going to reserve judgment,” Grassley said. “…Other things we talked about that they might be doing that will detract from E15 12 months out of the year.”

Grassley has been critical of the EPA’s decision to grant some oil refineries exemptions to federal ethanol mandates. During an early morning taping at Iowa Public Television of tonight’s “Iowa Press” program, Grassley was asked about Pruitt’s future.

“Have you about had it with Scott Pruitt?” a reporter asked.

Grassley paused for a deep breath before replying.

“On ethanol, yes,” Grassley said. “On everything else he’s done, no, except for the ethics questions and I’m going to wait until we get done with the investigation on the ethics questions.”

Grassley is pleased with Pruitt decisions which have rolled-back Obama-era regulations, including the Waters of the U.S. rule that groups like the Farm Bureau opposed. Pruitt was serving as Oklahoma’s attorney general when President Trump nominated him to serve as EPA administrator. Grassley said he’s been surprised by reports of Pruitt’s spending habits in the agency.

“I would think that a person who came from state government where you don’t have all the atributes of playing with the people’s money like you do in Washington, D.C., I would think he would come in there with a very conservative approach,” Grassley said. “I don’t see it with some of the things he’s done.”

A former EPA aide told congress in April that Pruitt spent $43,000 to turn a closet into a soundproof phone booth in his office. Pruitt also spent $9000 installing office locks that are opened by fingerprints. Pruitt’s accused of pursuing a lavish lifestyle on the taxpayers’ dime, including first class air travel and five-star hotels. President Trump took to Twitter last month to defend Pruitt, saying Pruitt was doing a “fantastic job” as head of the EPA.